Best Good Times for a Change: an Outline

Had a pretty fun weekend, but can't talk about it until I cover some miscellanea I've been sitting on from the last few weeks. When not searching for work or a home I've been having fun. Why mope? The following took place between December 31 and January 22. Some things are slight repeats. And wouldn't it be nice if I filled this with google images? Yeah, that'd be nice.

1. FOOD

a) Momofuku Noodle Bar once, Ssam Bar lunch once, dinner once, Milk Bar, err...4 times? In 9 days? I've found a favorite there, the pistachio cake.
b) Ippudo: a serious ramen establishment on 4th avenue. So popular the broth sometimes sells out by the middle of the afternoon, walked by one afternoon and it wasn't crowded and they weren't out of food either. Very fun, very Japanese, I was surrounded by people that knew a lot more about the proper way to eat ramen than I. Food was delicious, would have appreciated more than a few slices of the pork, though.
c) Rice: a mini-chain that's popping up through the city, went to their Elizabeth Street branch. You choose your flavor of rice, you choose your toppings--I had the tortilla soup instead. The options on the menu make 100s of combinations possible, I would like it better if there was a little more direction. I'd rather have something delicious right off the bat instead of having to guess and check every time I go.
d) New Taco Spot: Tapatio on 116th. Very excellent, they really took care of us there. I could feel so much love. I had a cheeseburger, I love it when Mexicans make me cheeseburgers...mine was covered in melted Oaxacan cheese, the sight of it was enough to completely change minds set on not having any lunch at all.
e) August: nice place on Bleecker in the West Village...felt like a Manhattanization of dear old Dumont (Question for myself: when did I last go to Dumont? Answer: absolutely no idea, probably been much more than a year). Opted for variety of appetizers instead of the hearty mains, I now crave a flatbead mushroom pizza with a runny egg spread all over it.

2. MUSEUMS

a) The New Museum: popped in to try out the Elizabeth Peyton show, enjoyed it. A lot of her paintings were a lot smaller than I had expected. Satisfying bit of entertainment with good wall text.
b) PS1: Finally went there for the first time, it's great. One of the best things you could do with a suggested donation of $5. There was this unicorn there that I could have looked at all day and lots of stuff by artists I had never heard of being treated real important. Oh, and good video installations, the kind I'd actually sit through.
c) The Bronx Museum: The Bronx has an art museum. I had no idea! And they also had a great exhibit called "Street Art Street Life" (unfortunately I tell you this now that it is long gone) about the history of street art. An exhibit of constant surprises and works that really pleased, I'll call it the best of these three museums I've mentioned.

3. MOVIES & TELEVISION

a) Penelope: The one about Christina Ricci being born with a pig nose, surprisingly good little movie and probably the cutest I ever found Ricci to be.
b) The Office: Wasn't last week's episode good? Didn't you expect to find out those people were Mormon? I liked that this episode just stood on its own, anyone could accept it and enjoy it.
c) Flight of the Conchords: Season two premiere bummed me out a little by going back on all the exciting turns of the finale. Episode two, however, was perfect (as this show so often is).
d) Ghost Town: The Ricky Gervais movie from the summer. Great job with taking a premise I wasn't interested in and turning it into a totally enjoyable movie.
e) The Bachelor: Er, yeah. Guess I'm still watching this. Because of DVR. Seriously, that's the only reason. But mark my words: Melissa will win. That other girl seems better, but Melissa. Will. Win.
f) The City: Filling heads throughout the rest of the country with very incorrect notions of how people live in New York. Oddly, found the apartment of the socialite girl to be the most realistic. At least it didn't have a dining room table (from what I've seen). Hate to see how Whitney has gone from being the responsible one at Teen Vogue to at least as dumb as Lauren.

4. FANCY THINGS

a) Antony & Cleopatra at Carnegie Hall: The opera. The guy who was Antony looked just like Daniel Craig's Bond and the lady that was Cleopatra looked just like Judi Dench's M. Interesting casting, Mr. Opera director. I'd never been to Carnegie Hall before and now I have and I didn't have to practice at all!

5. BOOKS

a) Haven't finished anything yet. But I've been at it.